The present invention relates to the field of surgical face masks, more specifically, it relates to making the surgical mask more comfortable to wear over extended periods of time.
In an effort to maintain aseptic conditions during treatment, health care professionals have accepted the use of surgical face masks as standard procedure. Although accepted as standard procedure, wearing a surgical mask creates two main problems for the user. First, the air space between the users face and the mask's inner surface is very limited. This limited air space volume does not allow the exhaled air to flow from the space quickly enough, and the trapped air becomes warm, making it difficult to breathe and uncomfortable to wear. Second, air trapped within the mask tends to escape upward at the top edge of the mask. If eye glasses are worn, this escaping warm moist air can cause eye glass fogging, which can interfere with the user's ability to perform treatment.
In an effort to eliminate these problems several solutions have been suggested. C. D. Kelman in U.S. Pat. No. 4,469,097 provides a mask attached to a container of pressurized gas which periodically releases oxygen through a valve to the surgical mask to enhance the user's ability to breathe. This pressurized container would be inconvenient to continually refill or replace and would be an added expense to the use of this apparatus. Kelman's apparatus only supplies oxygen in intermittent bursts, which would be inadequate to maintain a cool comfortable mask. Also, Kelman's apparatus does not actively remove air from the mask. The outlet tubing 18 opens to the atmospheric air and allows for only passive air flow. With this in mind, as oxygen is forced from the pressurized cylinder to the mask, increased pressure in the mask could allow warm air to leak and cause eye glass fogging. Warm exhaled air would still tend to accumulate, making the mask uncomfortable.
It is an object of the present invention to effectively remove warm moist air from the surgical mask to allow for greater user comfort and the elimination of eyeglass fogging. The present invention creates both positive and negative air pressures, produced from a single air circulating fan, which actively circulates air through the mask and complete unit. This continuous flow of air through the mask does not allow warm moist air to leak and fog eyeglasses, and effectively removes the warm exhaled air away from the mask, making the mask very comfortable.
B. F. Agnew in U.S. Pat. No. 3,625,207 discloses a suction ducting system for use under a surgical mask. The primary objective as stated is to remove potentially harmful exhaled air away from the mask to be disposed of at a distant site. This ducting system must be attached to a vacuum source away from the user's body, therefore limiting the user's mobility. It is also my experience with a vacuum ducting system that the vacuum creates a very loud and annoying sound.
An objective of the present invention is to allow the user complete mobility. The air circulating surgical mask unit is lightweight, compact, and completely self-contained on the user's body. It also has a very low noise level while in operation.
C. A. Dempsey ET AL. U.S. Pat. No. 3,130,722 discloses a respiratory mask with outlet tubing attached to a source of negative pressure to pull exhaled air away from the mask for disposal at a more distant site. The mask disclosed by C. A. Dempsey ET AL. is unconventional and would be more expensive to produce than modifying existing commercial forms, and may not be readily accepted by the health care profession. Due to the limited volume of air within the unit a small electric exhaust fan would be ineffective at creating and maintaining adequate negative pressure to keep the mask from becoming warm and uncomfortable. The exhaust fan would be choked off due to the small volume of air available to draw upon. The air is pulled away from the mask with no circulation of air back to replenish the column of air lost.
It is an objective of the present invention to eliminate these problems as follows: (1) The air circulating surgical mask unit can utilize conventional face masks modified only by the placement of two holes which allow for the attachment of the unit to the mask. Standard masks could be modified using a template punch mechanism to cut the necessary two holes, or masks could be manufactured with the holes in place at little extra expense. (2) The functional design of the present invention is such that it cannot be choked off by a lack of available air. The unit is basically a loop or circular tube filled with air. A single air circulating fan is positioned within this circular loop and while in operation creates positive pressure on one side of the fan and negative pressure on the other side. Utilizing both the positive and negative air pressure created by the air circulating fan makes the unit's design unique and highly efficient. The air within the unit is pushed from the fan toward the mask and pulled from the mask toward the fan. The air within the unit circulates or flows in a circular fashion creating a continuous column of air to maintain adequate air flow.
The present invention also utilizes an air-mixer-filter component in cooperation with the air circulating fan, which allows for a controlled variable amount of filtered atmospheric air to enter into the unit.